Maryland lawmaker-doctor fined for joining legislative meetings from the operating room

In this Jan. 23, 2020, Del. Terri Hill poses in the Maryland House of Delegates chamber in Annapolis, Md.
AP Photo/Brian Witte, File

Delegate Terri Hill was reprimanded for performing a surgery while attending legislative meetings.
Hill was fined by the Board of Physicians for "unprofessional conduct in the practice of medicine."
"I accept the Board's decision that I could have done better," she told the Associated Press.

A Maryland state lawmaker who is also a plastic surgeon was reprimanded in October for performing a surgical procedure while also attending virtual legislative meetings, according to The Associated Press.

Democratic Del. Terri Hill, who represents portions of Baltimore and Howard counties, was fined $15,000 by the Maryland Board of Physicians, which found that she was guilty of "unprofessional conduct in the practice of medicine."

In the official consent order, the board detailed how Hill took part in a voting session of a House committee while being shown on the video feed wearing "a surgical gown, facemask, and surgical cap."

In the Maryland legislative session held this year, committee meetings continued to be conducted via video conferencing because of the coronavirus pandemic. Members of the public were able to access the livestream of legislative meetings and hearings.

"She was positioned under the surgical lights, focused downward, and would occasionally shift, reach for surgical instruments, or adjust the lights," the report said, mentioning that the surgeon and other operating room staff "occasionally moved surgical equipment and blood-stained towels so that they were briefly visible on the video feed."

Hill, who was first elected to the state House of Delegates in 2014, told The Associated Press that she sought to balance work for her constituents and her medical career - but ultimately took responsibility for the incidents.

"I accept the Board's decision that I could have done better," she told the news agency in a statement on Friday.

The board fielded a complaint on March 23 which alleged that Hill was taking part in committee meetings remotely while also performing surgery. The individual who made the allegation cited a newspaper article, according to the consent order.

The consent order also stated that Hill went to two virtual legislative committee meetings on Feb. 19 and March 12.

Hill took part in the February meeting to introduce a bill that she was sponsoring during the legislative session, while appearing on screen in "surgical gown, facemask, and surgical cap."

In the order, a physician's assistant stated that Hill moved from the operating table "for a few minutes," but then came back to the table. The patient in the operating room said that they didn't remember Hill asking if she could join the hearing.

The lawmaker also took part in a March 12 committee meeting while also performing "major abdominal and back surgery," according to the consent order. That day, Hill voted "yes" on 14 bills that were up for a vote.

The patient on the second aforementioned date gave consent for Hill to take part in the meeting only 10 minutes before the surgery began, according to the board.

Hill told the medical panel that her attendance at the virtual committee meetings was not compulsory.

After the news was published which revealed the lawmaker's conduct, she told the board that she reached out to the surgery center's medical director, who was "very upset" and told her that such an incident "was to never happen again."

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